Batavia Man Indicted In Tax Evasion Probe

A Batavia carpenter and a Chicago business appraiser were indicted Thursday on federal income tax evasion charges stemming from a federal investigation of a nationwide scheme to defraud the IRS.

The two men are accused of funneling their paychecks to a Chicago-based group called the Mid-America Commodity and Barter Association in an attempt to conceal their incomes from the IRS.

They are among five members of the association who have been accused of tax fraud in Chicago, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Josef Vierecki, 54, of 2 S 814 Chillem Drive, Batavia, was charged with depositing nearly $176,000 of his income from 1984 to 1988 with the association and failing to file timely income tax returns for those years.

Lawrence Beall, 56, of 5725 N. Richmond St., Chicago, was charged with depositing $125,000 of his income from 1986 to 1988 with the association and failing to file timely tax returns for those years.

It is alleged in the indictments that Beall and Vierecki and other association members would deposit funds in the association`s bank accounts and the association would in turn write checks to pay their bills to third parties and return a portion of the funds to the members in the form of gold coins or other currency.

The indictments alleged that the association advertised itself as being able to provide anonymity to its members and eliminate any paper trail to avoid detection by the IRS.

``Whenever there are allegations of using so-called `warehouse banking`

to conceal income and evade taxes we will pursue these allegations,`` U.S. Atty. Fred Foreman said in a press release.

The association was based out of homes at 3739 N. Pittsburgh Ave., Chicago, and 8106 W. Maple, in Marengo, according to James Conway, an assistant U.S. attorney. Conway, who will prosecute the two members, successfully prosecuted two Philadelphia federal court reporters on similar charges stemming from their membership in the group.

The IRS has been conducting a crackdown for several years on such groups. On Monday, a federal jury convicted Dr. Frank Becker, the chief of internal medicine at Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn, on charges of tax evasion and failing to file tax returns from 1982 to 1987.

Prosecutors Bradley Lerman and Lisa Osofsky charged Becker had income of $855,000 and owed $304,000 in unpaid taxes during those years. His 1989 indictment accused him of using the National Commodity and Barter Association to conceal his income.